


We Loved to Hit the Road and Laugh

by momo0231



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, fuck these brothers i hate them, grunkle4grandpa theory is in full effect in this fic, thEY GIVE ME SO MANY FEELINGS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 13:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4223100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momo0231/pseuds/momo0231
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a long day without you, my friend.<br/>And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.</p><p> </p><p>Three different snippets into the lives of two brothers</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Loved to Hit the Road and Laugh

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a fic that switched up the stan twins names so
> 
> Stanley = Grunkle Stan  
> Stanford = Author
> 
> I also probably messed it up somewhere, even though I tried to be vigilant about it. If I did, let me know?
> 
> Title and Summary comes from See You Again by Wiz Khalifa
> 
> Written before a TOTS

“I’m getting _married_ , Ford.” Stanley was beside himself with glee, and Stanford had to smile back at him. Carla was good for him; he knew that better than anyone else.

But, he was going to Oregon, and he had been hoping that his brother would come with him. Mystery Twins and all that stuff that they talked about when they were kids. Nonsense, he supposed it was now, they were adults. They had to outgrow the kids stuff; he just didn’t think it would be so _soon_.

So, he smiled. He smiled and was the best man in his brother’s wedding because that’s what brother’s did. He smiled through the reception and gave the speech without face planting into the floor from how drunk he was.

And then he got up and moved to Gravity Falls.

 

 

Weeks passed, which turned into months which slowly crawled into years. Stanley kept him updated on what happened. The baby, complete with pictures that came steadily through the mail. Stanford meant to answer to them, but it just slipped away from him as he got into his work with Fiddleford. He hadn’t even realized that he didn’t hear from Stanley for almost eight months until he had gotten a postcard in the mail that just asked if he could come to Gravity Falls.

Stanford, despite it being ten at night when he saw it and knew that it was one in the morning for his brother, called him.

The worst part, in his opinion, was that Stanley picked up.

“Did ya get my card?” The boxer asked, and the author frowned when Stanley’s voice cracked on the last word.

“Stanley, what happened?” His brother’s voice was hushed, even though there was no one in his house but him. Fiddleford had gone home to get some much needed rest.

There was a pause on the other side of the phone and for a second Stanford was afraid that he had hung up. “Carla’s divorcing me. I’m getting kicked out in two days.”

Whatever he had thought his brother was going to say, this was far from anything he had thought. “Ford, please, I need a place to crash and I’ve got nothin’ left in Jersey.” Stanley’s voice was getting more wobbily as he continued to talk, and it was clear he was on the verge of tears.

Stanford’s heart broke.

“Yeah, yeah you can come. Come as quick as you can, Lee.”

The boxer was there at the end of the next day.

(When he found out he had been in jail, however, Stanford couldn’t help but yell at him for that. Why hadn’t he called him?)

 

 

Stanley flailed his arms around him as he was slowly lifted into the air. He grabbed hold of the nearest thing, which just so happened to be a pine tree. He clutched it with everything that he had, feeling his breathing get shallow. God, he _hated_ heights.

Then just like that, everything was falling and Stanley felt his back hit the ground. He groaned, but didn’t let the pain stop him.

There was distant screaming coming from the town, but all he could think about was his brother. If there was something weird going on, it had to be because of _him_ or he was in trouble.

He ran, faster than he ever had, faster than when he was running from police or escaping jail.

Because Stanford meant more to him.

The boxer shouldered the door open and ran down the stairs to the basement. “Stanford!” He cried as he exited the elevator.

He got to the area where the portal was, but there was no one there.

Stanley looked around wildly, trying to find something but all he saw was…

Rope leading from where it was tied on a bit of pipe behind him and leading to the portal where the end was burned off.

“ _Stanford_!” The boxer screamed, hoping this was some prank. This couldn’t be real.

This portal was going to destroy the town if he kept it open

A part of him started to walk towards the emergency shutoff, grabbing the key he kept around his neck and turning it in its slot next to the other two. This was the part of him that was still thinking, was still understanding what was happening.

The other part of him was dazed. Dazed, and as soon as the portal turned off, he collapsed to his knees and started sobbing.

 

 

Thirty years. Thirty years alone, of just trying to get the portal to be active again and thirty years of searching for the other two journals.

Thirty years of pretending, of watching as the world kept turning while he was stuck in the past.

All the lies, all the deception, to Stanley it was all worth it. Even the years he wondered if it was even worth it to keep living, _everything_. He watched as his brother stepped out of the portal, older then he once was, but then again so was he.

Stanley could feel tears pricking his eyes.

Stanford met his gaze and slowly cracked a smile. “It’s been a long time, Lee.”

The con man stood up, pain shooting up his knees but he all but ran to his brother, wrapping his arms around him.

It had been a long thirty years, but Stanford was back. It was worth it, all the pain, and all the lies.

It _had_ to be worth it.

“Welcome home, Ford.”


End file.
